Superseding Indictment Charges Widow with Murder in Fort Stewart Slaying

SAVANNAH, GA—A superseding indictment was returned earlier today by a federal grand jury sitting in Savannah, Georgia, charging Lillie Mae Eubank, 39, with first-degree murder in the beating death of her husband, Specialist John Joseph Beans Eubank, 29, on November 30, 2013, on Fort Stewart. Ms. Eubank’s co-defendant and brother, Carl Evan Swain, was charged with the murder in January. Federal law provides that a murder occurring within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States is a federal crime. Fort Stewart lies within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.

Eubank was first charged last week by criminal complaint. She was ordered detained pending trial by United States Magistrate Judge GR Smith on Tuesday. Mr. Tarver stressed that a criminal complaint and an indictment are only an accusations and are not evidence of guilt. The defendants are entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Southeast Georgia Violent Crime Task Force, with assistance provided by Army-CID. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cameron Heaps Ippolito and Brian T. Rafferty are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.